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From marketing planning training through to leadership
coaching, Hard Management offers a unique approach to gaining sustainable
competitive advantage.
Marketing Training is NOT just for Marketing Staff
At Hard Management we believe that Marketing
is a whole approach to business. In the words of Peter Doyle:
"Many companies
do not understand that marketing is a business philosophy that requires
a complete change in attitudes and practices for everyone in the organisation."
It is our belief - and there is strong evidence to
support this - that organisations that practise the "marketing
concept" are more successful. This depends on an acknowledgement
that marketing is the responsibility of everyone in the organisation.
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However, one cannot expect positive results unless
responsibility is accompanied by knowledge, skills and understanding.
Not to mention attitude. Training is essential.
Hard Management provides a wide range of marketing
training. The training may be split into 3 broad areas according
to the target audience:
- senior management - the most important
marketers in any business must be the senior
managers; they must set the direction and define what it is that
the company should offer, by:
- assessing the competiitive position
- market segmentation
- differentiation and positioning
- brand development and valuation
- non-marketing staff - the focus
here is on ensuring that staff understand
the factors affecting customer buying decisions and how they as individuals
can have an impact. Typical topics might include: the importance of
brand and how it is developed, establishing and maintaining good customer
relationships etc.
- direct mail
- brand development
- developing market plans
- forecasting and budgeting
We also have expertise in finance and strategy. This
expertise provides a more balanced approach to our training:
- Finance - much
of marketing is concerned with intangibles such as brand and customer
relationships; assets which don't appear on the balance sheet and
yet are probably the most important drivers of financial performance.
Furthermore investments such as advertising that build long-term brand
recognition (eg KitKat's pre-eminence is built on half-a-century of
promotion) are treated by accountants as expenditure and so depress
profits for the current year. So, marketing
assets aren't recognised and investments reduce profits - marketers
need financial skills to make sense of these anomalies; enter value
management!
- Strategy - to many
people, strategy IS marketing strategy. The Hard Management approach
brings together the perspectives and knowledge from all areas of strategy.
A particularly significant area for marketing people that we address
is: differentiation and we consider
16 different approaches. Moreover, we illustrate how the Balanced
Scorecard can aid the implementation of marketing plans
Please use the links below or the menu at the top
of the page (hover over our logo) to find out more about our services.
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